We are starting a brand new challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments today and I know that you will love this one! These colors are perfect for any Spring project. Once I pulled the colors out of my supplies to get some inspiration,, the new Friendship’s Sweetest Thoughts stamp set just seemed perfect for these colors. The little bird reminded me of another new stamp set, Bird Banter, so I had to use the sentiments that really made me smile the first time I saw it.

My Secrets to Making This Friendship’s Sweetest Thoughts Project

I decided to tone the colors down a bit with Crumb Cake cardstock and I also “aged” the layers of paper with the same ink color. It gave it a little “French Country” look that the focal image resembles. To get this look, the easiest way is to take a sponge and just brush it up against the edges until you are happy with the results. You can also distress the edges with a distressing tool to add even more “age” to the layers.

Did you notice the stenciling? What a fun and very quick little detail for your background! This stencil is included in the Pattern Party Decorative Masks and all I had to do was sponge a little color onto the paper. Don’t forget to tape it down with a little low tack tape or a post-it note to keep it from moving while you are rubbing the paper.

The only other tip I have is to mention that the Lemon Lime cardstock was really necessary to anchor that focal point to the card so that I could add the sentiment to the bottom. Although I cannot provide a reason that it only worked with the Lemon Lime Twist, I just know that I wasn’t happy until I added it. Is it because I just love layers or is there a design “law” that was being broken till I added it, we may never know!! 😉

4 Comments

This is such a lovely card! (I think another one of your “secrets” could be how much interest popping up just the canopy adds to the flower wagon.) 😉 Thanks for linking up this beauty at Seize the Birthday!

Re: the green: It’s color theory – a split complementary color scheme, with the green. Sometimes it’s just intuitive, but there is a reason why it works. It’s an adorable card, I love all the layers and the stenciling! Good luck in the HeARTful Stamping Challenge!